US4553106A - Output stage for an operational amplifier - Google Patents
Output stage for an operational amplifier Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US4553106A US4553106A US06/593,165 US59316584A US4553106A US 4553106 A US4553106 A US 4553106A US 59316584 A US59316584 A US 59316584A US 4553106 A US4553106 A US 4553106A
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- transistor
- coupled
- output
- current
- collector
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03F—AMPLIFIERS
- H03F3/00—Amplifiers with only discharge tubes or only semiconductor devices as amplifying elements
- H03F3/30—Single-ended push-pull [SEPP] amplifiers; Phase-splitters therefor
- H03F3/3083—Single-ended push-pull [SEPP] amplifiers; Phase-splitters therefor the power transistors being of the same type
- H03F3/3086—Single-ended push-pull [SEPP] amplifiers; Phase-splitters therefor the power transistors being of the same type two power transistors being controlled by the input signal
- H03F3/3096—Single-ended push-pull [SEPP] amplifiers; Phase-splitters therefor the power transistors being of the same type two power transistors being controlled by the input signal using a single transistor with output on emitter and collector as phase splitter
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03F—AMPLIFIERS
- H03F1/00—Details of amplifiers with only discharge tubes, only semiconductor devices or only unspecified devices as amplifying elements
- H03F1/08—Modifications of amplifiers to reduce detrimental influences of internal impedances of amplifying elements
- H03F1/083—Modifications of amplifiers to reduce detrimental influences of internal impedances of amplifying elements in transistor amplifiers
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03F—AMPLIFIERS
- H03F1/00—Details of amplifiers with only discharge tubes, only semiconductor devices or only unspecified devices as amplifying elements
- H03F1/30—Modifications of amplifiers to reduce influence of variations of temperature or supply voltage or other physical parameters
- H03F1/302—Modifications of amplifiers to reduce influence of variations of temperature or supply voltage or other physical parameters in bipolar transistor amplifiers
Definitions
- This invention relates generally to operational amplifiers, and more particularly, to an all NPN monolithically integrable output stage for an operational amplifier which includes a thermal current source.
- the operational amplifier shown in the drawing inclues an input stage (for example a differential input stage of the type well known to those skilled in the art), generally represented by current source 2. Suffice it to say that if the input stage is of the differential type, one set of differential input voltages will result in current being sourced to the base of transistor 4 while another set of differential input voltages will result in base drive being diverted from the base of transistor 4 which is the input of the amplifier's second stage.
- an input stage for example a differential input stage of the type well known to those skilled in the art
- current source 2 for example a differential input stage of the type well known to those skilled in the art
- Transistor 4 has a collector coupled to a first source of supply voltage (V CC ) and an emitter coupled to the junction of the cathode of diode 12 and a first terminal of current source 16.
- the second terminal of current source 16 is coupled to a second source of supply voltage (in this case ground).
- a stabilizing capacitor 10 is coupled between the anode of diode 12 and the base of transistor 4.
- the anode of diode 12 is also coupled via current source 14 to V CC .
- the base of transistor 6 is coupled to the junction of capacitor 10 and the anode of diode 12.
- the collector of transistor 6 is coupled via collector resistor 18 to the base of transistor 24, and the emitter of transistor 6 is coupled to the base electrode of transistor 22 and, via resistor 21, to the base of transistor 20.
- Transistors 4 and 6 are actually emitter-follower transistors and help supply the required base current loading isolation between the circuit output and the output of the input stage.
- Transistors 20 and 22 each have emitters coupled to ground, and a diode 26 is coupled across their collectors; i.e. diode 26 has an anode coupled to the collector of transistor 22 and a cathode coupled to the collector of transistor 20.
- the collector of transistor 22 is also coupled to output terminal 36 as is the anode of diode 26 and the emitter of transistor 24.
- Also coupled across the collectors of transistors 20 and 22 is a series resistor pair comprising resistors 32 and 34 having a junction node 38.
- a first Miller capacitor 8 is coupled between node 38 and the base of transistor 4. As node 38 is moved towards node 40 bringing more resistance into the loop, the circuit exhibits less distortion but its capability to drive capacitive loads without introducing additional excess phase shift is substantially reduced. On the other hand, as node 38 is moved towards node 42 reducing the resistance in the loop, the circuit exhibits more distortion but its capacitive load drive capability is improved.
- Transistor 24 has a collector coupled to V CC and a base coupled to the junction of the collector of current source PNP transistor 30 and the anode of diode 28, the emitter of transistor 30 being coupled to V CC via resistor 46.
- transistors 20 and 22 When suffficient base drive is applied to the base terminals of transistors 20 and 22, transistors 20 and 22 will turn on and current will flow from an external load coupled to output terminal 36 through transistors 20 and 22. In fact, load current will flow approximately one-half through transistor 22 and approximately one-half through the series combination of resistors 32 and 34 and then through transistor 20 since the emitter-base junction areas are assumed to be the same. This ratio, however, could be any desired value.
- the load current and the values of resistors 32 and 34 are sufficiently small so as not to render diode 26 conductive during normal load current operation. If, for example, half of the load current were two milliamperes and the combination of resistors 32 and 34 have a value of 200 ohms, the voltage drop across the resistors would be 400 millivolts, and thus the voltage at the cathode of diode 28 would be the output voltage appearing at thermal 36 minus 400 millivolts. The voltage at the base of transistor 24 would be approximately 300 millivolts higher than the output voltage at terminal 36 assuming a 700 millivolt drop across diode 28.
- this low base-emitter voltage will cause transistor 24 to remain off, transistor 22 will sink one half the load current, and transistor 20 will sink one-half the load current and the current being supplied by current source 30.
- transistors 20 and 22 will be less conductive and transistor 24 will become more conductive. This occurs because as the current in transistors 20 and 22 is reduced, the current through resistors 32 and 34 will be reduced as will the voltage drop thereacross. If, for example, the drive current through resistors 32 and 34 fell to 100 microamperes, the voltage at the cathode of diode 28 would become equal to the output voltage minus 20 millivolts.
- the voltage at the base of transistor 24 would be approximately 680 millivolts higher than the output voltage. This is sufficient to cause transistor 24 to become conductive. As the voltage at the base terminals of transistors 20 and 22 again increase, transistors 20 and 22 will again turn on pulling more current through resistor pair 32 and 34. This in turn will cause a gradual reduction in the voltage at the base of transistor 24 slowly turning it off.
- Diode 26 is provided to protect transistor 24 in the event that the output terminal 36 should become shorted to the positive rail (V CC ) when transistors 20 and 22 are on. Were it not for the diode 26, a very high current would flow through resistors 32 and 34 and diode 28 causing a detrimental breakdown of the base-emitter junction of transistor 24. With diode 26 connected as shown, a portion of the short circuit current is conducted through diode 26 and transistor 20 bypassing series resistors 32 and 34. The sourcing portion of the output stage inherently current limits short circuits between output terminal 36 and the negative rail or ground.
- a second Miller capacitor 44 is coupled between the base terminal of transistor 20 and the collector terminal of transistor 22.
- the positive or pull-up loop now includes transistor 4, diode 12, transistor 6, transistor 20, diode 28, transistor 24, resistor 34 and capacitor 8. This is the loop exhibiting the highest gain, and resistor 21 in combination with capacitor 44 reduces the gain of the positive loop increasing its stability by Miller multiplication.
- the negative or pull-down gain path includes transistor 4, diode 12, transistor 6, transistor 20, transistor 22, resistor 34 and capacitor 8.
- compensation capacitor 44 only secondarily affects the gain and therefore the phase of the negative loop.
- capacitor 44 may have a value of 2.5 to 5 picofarads.
- the dynamic emitter resistance (which is directly proportional to temperature) also decreases. Since the gain is inversely proportional to the dynamic emitter resistance, the gain will therefore increase causing the amplifier to become unstable. It has been found that by driving the amplifier's output stage with a thermal current having a positive temperature coefficient, that the gain of the output stage can be held substantially constant over temperature.
- thermal current (I 1 ) is generated by a current mirror circuit including field effect transistor 48, diode 50 having an emitter area A, NPN transistor 52 having an emitter area A, resistor 58, and cross-coupled NPN transistors 54 and 56 having emitter areas A and NA respectively (N being, for example, 10).
- the base electrodes of transistors 54 and 56 are respectively coupled to the collector electrodes of transistors 56 and 54.
- the emitter of transistor 54 is coupled to ground, and the emitter of transistor 56 is coupled, via resistor 58, to ground.
- the collector of transistor 54 is coupled to the emitter of transistor 52 which has a base coupled to the anode of diode 50 and to the source of field effect transistor 48.
- the cathode of diode 50 is coupled to the collector of transistor 56.
- Both the gate and drain electrodes of field effect transistor 48 are coupled to V CC .
- the circuit also includes a turn around circuit including PNP transistors 60 and 62.
- the emitter of transistor 62 is coupled via resistor 64 to V CC while the emitter of transistor 60 is coupled via resistor 66 to the base terminals of transistors 62 and 30.
- I 1 is a thermal current having a positive temperature coefficient.
- a current I 1 is caused to flow in the collector of transistor 30.
- the current flowing in the collector of transistor 30 may be made to be some predetermined fraction of the current flowing in the collector of transistor 52.
- the current flowing in the collector of transistor 30 will also be a thermal current having a positive temperature coefficient. Therefore, as the temperature falls, the current drive in the output stage will decrease causing the dynamic emitter resistance to increase and the gain to decrease. On the other hand, as temperature increases, the current drive in the output stage will increase causing the dynamic emitter resistance to decrease and the gain to increase.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Amplifiers (AREA)
Abstract
Description
(V.sub.T /R.sub.58)ln N
V.sub.T =kT/Q
Claims (4)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US06/593,165 US4553106A (en) | 1984-03-26 | 1984-03-26 | Output stage for an operational amplifier |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US06/593,165 US4553106A (en) | 1984-03-26 | 1984-03-26 | Output stage for an operational amplifier |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US4553106A true US4553106A (en) | 1985-11-12 |
Family
ID=24373655
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US06/593,165 Expired - Lifetime US4553106A (en) | 1984-03-26 | 1984-03-26 | Output stage for an operational amplifier |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
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US (1) | US4553106A (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0828344A2 (en) * | 1996-09-03 | 1998-03-11 | Motorola, Inc. | Integrated circuit and method for generating a transimpedance function |
US5764105A (en) * | 1996-11-22 | 1998-06-09 | Burr-Brown Corporation | Push-pull output circuit method |
US5939944A (en) * | 1997-12-16 | 1999-08-17 | Burr-Brown Corporation | NPN push-pull output stage with folded cascode JFETs |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3693107A (en) * | 1970-11-02 | 1972-09-19 | Motorola Inc | Stable power amplifier circuit |
US4403200A (en) * | 1981-08-24 | 1983-09-06 | Motorola, Inc. | Output stage for operational amplifier |
-
1984
- 1984-03-26 US US06/593,165 patent/US4553106A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3693107A (en) * | 1970-11-02 | 1972-09-19 | Motorola Inc | Stable power amplifier circuit |
US4403200A (en) * | 1981-08-24 | 1983-09-06 | Motorola, Inc. | Output stage for operational amplifier |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0828344A2 (en) * | 1996-09-03 | 1998-03-11 | Motorola, Inc. | Integrated circuit and method for generating a transimpedance function |
EP0828344A3 (en) * | 1996-09-03 | 1999-06-16 | Motorola, Inc. | Integrated circuit and method for generating a transimpedance function |
US5764105A (en) * | 1996-11-22 | 1998-06-09 | Burr-Brown Corporation | Push-pull output circuit method |
US5939944A (en) * | 1997-12-16 | 1999-08-17 | Burr-Brown Corporation | NPN push-pull output stage with folded cascode JFETs |
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Owner name: MOTOROLA, INC., SCHAUMBURG, ILL A DE CORP. Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:VYNE, ROBERT L.;REEL/FRAME:004311/0110 Effective date: 19840314 |
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Owner name: CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, THE, AS COLLATERAL AGENT, NE Free format text: SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC;REEL/FRAME:010281/0057 Effective date: 19990804 |
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Owner name: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC, ARIZONA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MOTOROLA, INC.;REEL/FRAME:010776/0122 Effective date: 20000414 |
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Owner name: WELLS FARGO BANK MINNESOTA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Free format text: SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNORS:SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC;SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES OF RHODE ISLAND, INC.;REEL/FRAME:012958/0638 Effective date: 20020506 |
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Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NEW YORK Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC;REEL/FRAME:014007/0239 Effective date: 20030303 |
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Owner name: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC, ARIZONA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:WELLS FARGO BANK MINNESOTA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:038543/0039 Effective date: 20050217 |